Daytona worked through the night to repair the catchfence that was destroyed in Saturday's crash. / Jeff Olson, Special for USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Gluck and Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Gluck and Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood III said the track is ready to move forward with today's Daytona 500 despite a crash that injured at least 28 fans in the grandstands at the end of Saturday's Nationwide Series race.

Daytona worked through the night to repair the catchfence, replacing the section of the destroyed fencing. The area formerly had a crossover gate -- an area in the mesh fencing that can peel back -- which appeared to play a key role in splitting Kyle Larson's car. Now, only has straight fencing because there wasn't time to rebuild the gate, according to Chitwood.

NASCAR vice president of racing operations Steve O'Donnell said Larson's Chevrolet would be taken to its R&D Center in Concord, N.C., for a thorough evaluation by outside experts. Though tires flew over the fence into the grandstands, O'Donnell said "for the most part, the car held up; the tethers (on tires) held up.

"We'll look at every piece, what came off, what didn't," he said. "What held. We'll review the film of where it hit and every aspect of that car will be looked at."

O'Donnell said it was too early to determine what role the crossover gate played in the accident.

"It's way too soon to make that kind of a statement without really studying exactly what happened and apply what we can from there," he said.

There remained crossover gates within roughly 30 feet of either side of the impact area. Chitwood said no consideration was given to removing those gates.

Seven people with injuries from the wreck were still hospitalized at Halifax Medical Center on Sunday, while another five had been released. And the two patients who arrived there in critical condition were upgraded Sunday morning, according to a Halifax Health spokesman. In addition, all six people who were treated at Halifax Health Port Orange were released.

Several fans have been released and some will attend today's race, Chitwood said. He said if a fan is "not comfortable where they are seating, we make every accommodation we can" to find more acceptable seats.

Debris from the crash showered the lower rows of the front grandstand. Two tires went into the stands -- including one in the upper deck -- and the motor from Larson's car went through the fence.

Chitwood said the track had not thought about moving seats back from the fence, citing Daytona's safety record with more than 100,000 seats on the frontstretch.

"I think we've got very good safety protocols," he said. "I think we've done a great job being prepared for our racing events. Incidents do happen and I think those are the exception. I think we're prepared today."

Chitwood said the track had given no consideration to replacing the other gates along the fence. He also said the track had not thought about moving seats back from the fence, citing Daytona's safety record.

After Carl Edwards' car sailed into the fence at Talladega Superspeedway in 2009 and injured several fans, Daytona hired a safety firm to evaluate its fence and installed new fencing. It is 22 feet high.

"We've done a great job," he said. "Incidents do happen, but I think those are the exception."